The Colourful Past

The Colourful Past by Judith H Hofenk de Graaff
‘Never judge a book by its cover’; and in this case a timely warning, it is a brilliant review of natural dyestuffs and their use over the centuries. It covers the identification of the dyes actually used in historic tapestries by chemical analysis, clarifying uniquely just how the colours were obtained. The sections are arranged by colour and then by dyestuff, with the history of use, the historic dyeing recipes. Then the text covers case studies of specific dyed articles of real note supported by colour photographs of the item; for the committed dyer, a Christmas and birthday all rolled into one!